Who Killed the Oscars?

Tablet ^ | 25 Feb 2025 | Sahsa Stone

[Rummyfan]

In the 1990s, there was a failed experiment in the Arizona desert called Biosphere 2. The idea was to create a self-sustaining orb where pretend astronauts of the future could live without contact with the real world for at least a year. They would grow their food, slaughter their own animals, and breathe their own air. If they were successful, they might be able to plop the orb on Mars to ensure the future of humanity after climate change destroyed the planet.

It turned out to be a disaster. They ran out of food. They ran out of oxygen and almost suffocated. They starved. There was tribal warfare, and eventually, Steve Bannon (yes, the same one) was brought in to fire the scientists and salvage the project for investors.

I often think of Biosphere 2 when I think of what happened to the Oscars. They, we, built a self-sustaining bubble cut off from real life. At first, we celebrated the artificiality of this construct with names like “Hollywood” or “Tinseltown.” But as the Oscars approach their 97th year, with the threat of ending their long reign on network television for the luxury of streaming, it seems clear that our artificial dream factory is now suffering the same fate as Biosphere 2, minus the intervention of Steve Bannon.

[Rummyfan]

Maybe they needed killing...

[Paladin2]

Bannon has a diverse history…

[Mr. K]

Go woke, go broke.

[LouAvul]

I maybe would watch an Oscar Presentation if the pimps, whores and addicts that run hollyweird could make movies worth watching. It’s all garbage. Amateurish and juvenile.

[Professional]

Go woke go broke? Nope…

Appears that they had an answer for all that. Replace conservatives dollars with our tax dollars. We actually have been paying for every variation of media, entertainment, sports, education and the like unknowingly via theft of our tax dollars.

A very clever plan that miraculously has been foiled.

[oldplayer]

I am a Freeper. I read the entire article. Too long, but interesting enough. It was a detailed statement of the obvious from a Hollywood insider.

[Maris Crane]

The liberal artists, writers, producers, actors, etc.

[No name given]

I know. Once in a while, we will get a gem like “The Lord Of The Rings” or “Ben Hur”. But nowadays it’s mostly PC woke garbage like “Moonlight” or “Brokeback Mountain”.

[No name given]

The usual miscreants.

[paudio]

Thanks for posting this.

To other Freepers: if you have time, read the piece. The author has been writing about Oscar and other awards. She later was later called names because one of her colleagues leaked that she voted for Trump.

[KittyKares]

FYI, these are the DEI standards which have to be met to be eligible for Best Picture consideration.

https://www.oscars.org/awards/representation-and-inclusion-standards

[Albion Wilde]

Insider-adjacent analysis ping.

[Angelino97]

From your link, the Oscars' define DEI as including a certain percentage of people in key jobs -- actors, producers, writers, directors, etc. -- from the following "underrepresented racial or ethnic groups."

• African American / Black / African and/or Caribbean descent

• East Asian (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian)

• Hispanic or Latina/e/o/x

• Indigenous Peoples (including Native American / Alaskan Native)

• Middle Eastern / North African

• Pacific Islander

• South Asian (including Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan)

• Southeast Asian (including Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Thai, and Vietnamese)

==============

The Middle Eastern/North African category doesn't specify Muslim or Arab. Broadly interpreted, it might include anyone of Jewish descent.

Although some Jews want Jews to be specifically named in the list, as per this article from 2024:

Major Hollywood stars press Academy to include Jews in representation and inclusion standards .

The omission of Jews in the list of protected groups “erases Jewish peoplehood and perpetuates myths of Jewish whiteness, power, and that racism against Jews is not a major issue or that it’s a thing of the past,” the letter asserts.

[monkeyshine]

Those pretentious jerks close off a major Los Angeles throughway for 2 weeks a year. Supposedly to protect against threats, but in reality they could do the whole thing in 18 hours. The city indulges them, and in return they film in Georgia and Toronto.

[jonrick46]

Bookmark.

[telescope115]

The Middle Eastern/North African category doesn't specify Muslim or Arab. Broadly interpreted, it might include anyone of Jewish descent.

Indeed, the Sephardic Jews. I’m 20% Sephardic, 5% Ashkenazi. It seems they haven’t done their genealogy homework thoroughly.

[Drew68]

This is a really good, in-depth piece. I enjoyed reading it.

I like movies. Good movies. I used to love watching the Oscars! (Back when I actually cared about the films that were nominated. This year I didn't see a single one though I am looking forward to Anora and The Substance when I can watch them for free on the streaming services.)

Anyhow, good find. Thanks for posting it.

[Drew68]

FYI, these are the DEI standards which have to be met to be eligible for Best Picture consideration.

Which is why Emilia Pérez with it's brown, transgender lead should've been a shoe-in. It checked all of the boxes!

Until they dug up the the lead star's old tweets which, how shall we say, were based AF.

[Chickensoup]

Interesting read. I dot follow the film industry. However what broke it is the same thing that broke America.

Btw as I read it I was thinking about how little power the pejorative RACIST now has over me.

[Drew68]

Although some Jews want Jews to be specifically named in the list, as per this article from 2024:

Lord knows, Jews have been underrepresented in the entertainment industry.